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JLPT N36画 · 6 strokesradical 牛grade 5freq #500

gender, nature, character

On'yomi (音読み)

  • セイ
  • ショウ

Kun'yomi (訓読み)

  • なり
  • せい

Mnemonic

The cow (牛) represents nature, giving birth (生) to various genders, showing how character naturally emerges from the essence of life.

About this kanji

The kanji 性 mainly means 'gender', 'nature', or 'character'. It is frequently used as a noun, but can also appear in verbs. You will often encounter it in words like 性格 (せいかく), which means 'personality', 性別 (せいべつ), meaning 'gender', and 特性 (とくせい), translating to 'characteristic'. Another example is 生理的 (せいりてき), which refers to something that is 'physiological'. When using this kanji, it’s important to remember that it often relates to inherent qualities or distinctions between different types of beings or attributes.

Built from

Example sentences

  • 性格が似ている友達です。

    We are friends with similar personalities.

Meanings across languages

English
gender, nature, character
Tiếng Việt
giới tính, tính cách
日本語
性, 特性, 本性
한국어
성별, 자연
中文
性别, 性质
id
gender, sifat
th
เพศ, ธรรมชาติ
es
género, naturaleza
fr
genre, nature
de
Geschlecht, Natur
pt
gênero, natureza

Common compounds

  • 性格せいかくpersonality
  • 性別せいべつgender, sex
  • 特性とくせいcharacteristic, trait
  • 生理的せいりてきphysiological

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